Straw-stacker



4(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. T. KRUSE.

STRAW STA'GKBR.

No. 433,175. Patented July 29, 1890.

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H. T. KRUSE. STRAW STAGKBR.

Patented July 29, 1890. 192' I 7K c News wenn; co., Pmmyuwn, msummon, me.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY T. KRUSE, OF JULES, ILLINOIS.

sTRAw-STACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,17 5, dated July 29, 1890.

Application tiled March 22, 1890. Serial No. 344,951. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY T. KRUsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at J ules,in the county of Cass and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in StraW-Stackers, of which the following is a specification.

StraW-stackers of the class to which niyim- .provement relates are particularly adapted for use in connection with thrashing-machines; and it consists, generally stated, in an elevator or conveyer mounted usually upon a suitable truck, and having an automatic swinging movement whereby straw discharged upon it from the lthrashing-machine may be formed into a stack of desired extent. In the formation of the stack provision is made for raising the discharge end of the swinging conveyer from time to time, in order that it may always be at the proper elevation above the stack as the latter increases in height; and it has, so far as I am aware, been usual hitherto to raise the conveyer bymeans of a rope or other iieXible medium secured at one end to the conveyer and at its other end upon a drum or the like turned to wind up the rope and raise the conveyer by means of a crank operated by hand. Serious objections exist to this manner of raising the conveyer, as it is slow, laborious, and inconvenient, and requires that a man leave other duties at frequent intervals during the operation of the device to actuate the raising mechanism.

The object of my invention is to overcome these and other objections to the construction of the raising mechanism for the conveyer hitherto employed by rendering the raising of the latter automatic in the sense that it shall be effected by the driving-power of the device at the will of the operator; and to the above end my invention consists in raising mechanism for the conveyer so arranged with reference to the driving-power of the machine that it may bercadily thrown into and out of engagement with the latter for the purpose of controlling the adjustment of the conveyer; and it consists, further, in the general construction and arrangement of the mechanism I employ for the purpose, as well as in details of its construction and combinations of parts, all as hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a broken view, in sectional elevation, of a straw-stacker embodying my improvements, the section being taken on line l l of Fig. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrows and showing only so much of the device as is necessary for intelligent illustration 0f my improvements; Fig. 2, a sectional plan view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3, a view in elevation of the front end of the device or end opposite that on which the conveyer is mounted; and Fig. 4, a broken sectionalview illustrating a detail enlarged.

A represents the oscillating supportingframe for the conveyer and conveyer mechanism, mounted upon a base-plate or turntable A. The turn-table is supported upon a truck which, as well as the mechanism for oscillating the frame A, may be of a common construction, and are therefore not illustrated. The conveyer B is also of common construction, pivoted to the frame A at and having at opposite sides the upwardly projecting arms t, upon which guide-pulleys t are provided.

O is the power-shaft having the drive-pulley O, which in the operation of the device is belted to the thrashi11g-machine, or directly to the engine by which the latter is operated.

D is a vertical shaft journaled toward the top and bottom of the frame A and extending down through the center of the turn-table, below which it is provided with a miter gearwheel .5" in mesh with a beveled Ipinion s on the power-shaft. The shaft D is further provided with miter gear-wheels s2 and s3, located as shown. The top or platform of the device is afforded by a traveling apron E, stretched over rotary drums o r', and shielded on three IOO A, having a miter gear-wheel o in mesh with thewheel s2 and extending beyond the front side of the frame, where it is provided with a pinion o', having a wide periphery.

H is a longitudinally-reciprocating shaftL which in the backward reciprocation of the shaft H is caused to engage the gear-wheel m and release it in the forward reciprocation of the shaft. At the end opposite the wheel m the shaft I is provided with a worm m', which meshes with a gear-wheel Z on a horizontal shaft K, which extends across the backend of the framerA and beyond the sides of the latter, where it carries drums K. Ropes or other flexible media L are secured atone end upon the drums K and extend around guide-pulleys 7c toward the top of the frame, and thence around the pulleys t on the conveyer and back to the frame, where they are secured at their oppositeends to eyes t'.

The mechanism for produoingreciprocation of the shaft H comprises a lever M, fulcrumed at upon the frame A and pivotally secured at the free end of its short arm to a collar t', loose upon the shaft H and held against lateral play thereon by fixed collars e". The long arm of the lever is connected through a stiff rod hwith the arm of a crank-shaft N, journaled upon the frame and provided with a ratchet-wheel g. A lever f, pivoted to the shaft N, carries the ratchet g', and is held normally at the backward limit of its oscillation by a spring f. A line O, of rope or cord, is secured to the free end of the lever f and may extend to any location where it may be within easy reach of the operator.

While the straw-stacker is in operation, the shafts G and H are caused to rotate continuously. Vhen it is desired to elevate the conveyer B, the operator may pull upon the line O, giving it, say, two tugs to cause the crankshaft to describe a half-revolution, and thus cause the lever M to reciprocate the shaft H and draw the rotating pinion n into mesh with the gear-wheel m to produce rota-tion' of the shaft I. The worm-and-gear connection between the shafts I and K causes the latter to rotate and wind the ropes L upon the drums K', which thus raise the conveyer. Then the conveyer has reached the desired elevation, two tugs upon the rope O, to reciprocate the shaft I-I back to its initial position and disengage the pinion n from the gear-wheel m, will produce immediate stoppage of the rotation of the shafts I K, and the worm and gear m l will operate to sustain the conveyer ,in its adjusted position by preventing the latter by its weight from rotating the shaft K and drums to unwind the ropes L. It will thus be apparent that the rise and stoppage in its ascent of the conveyer may be produced quickly and with comparatively little eifort on the part of the operator and from a location at any desired distance from the device.

Vhile I prefer, on account of its simplicity and economy, to employ the raising mechanism for the con veyer constructed and arranged as described, it is of course susceptible of various modifications as to detailsywhich, however, would cause no departure from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A straw-stacker having its conveyer-raising mechanism separably connected with the driving-shaft of the machine to be operated thereby, and lever mechanism for producing and separating the connection, substantially as described.

2. A straw-stacker having the raisin g mechanism for its conveyer separably connected with the driving-shaft of the machine to be operated thereby, lever mechanism for producing' and separating the connection, and means, as the rope O, connected with the lever mechanism, through which to operate it and extending beyond the machine, whereby the raising of the conveyer maybe produced at any desired distance away from the machine, substantially as described.

3. In a straw-stacker, the combination, with the driving-shaft of the machine and the mechanism for raising the conveyer, of gearing operated by the driving-shaft, gearing connected with and operating 'the raising mechanism, and lever mechanism for throwing the said gearings at will into and out of engagement with each other, whereby the raising of the conveyer is produced by the driving-power of the machine, substantially as described.

4. In a straw-stacker, the combination, with ism for raising the conveyer, of gearing operated by thedriving-shaft, gearing connected with and operating the raising mechanism, lever mechanism for throwing the said gearings at will into and o ut of engagement with each other, and means, as the rope O, connected with the lever mechanism and extend ing beyond the machine, whereby the lever mechanism may be operated at any desired distance away from the machine and the raisin of the conveyer is produced by the drivingpower of the machine, substantially as described.

5. In a straw-stacker, the combination, with the driving-shaft of thc machine and mechanism for raising the conveyer, of gearing operated by the driving-shaft, gearing connected with and operating the raising mechanism, a longitudinally-movable shaft provided with gearing in continuous engagement with one of the aforesaid gearin gs and caused by movement of the shaft to engage and release the IOO Y the driving-shaft of the machine and median-2 other gearing, and lever mechanism for moving the shaft at will, whereby the raising of the conveyer is produced by the dri ving-power of the machine, substantially as described.

6. In a straw-stackcr, the combination, with the driving-shaft of the machine and mechanism for raising the conveyer, of gearing operated by the driving-shaft, gearing connected with and operating the raising mechanism, a longitudinally-movable shaft provided with gearing in continuons engagement with one of the aforesaid gearings and caused by movement of the shaft to engage and release the other gearing, and mechanism for moving the shaft at will, comprising a lever M,fulcrumed on the frame of the machine, connected at one end with the movable shaft and provided at its opposite end with means, substantially as described, for operating it at any desired distance away from it, whereby the raising of the conveyer is produced by the driving-power of the machine, substantially as set forth.

7. In a straw-stacker, the combination, with the drivin g-shaft of the machine and mechanism for raising the conveyer, of gearing operated by the driving-shaft, gearing connected with and operating the raising mechanism, a longitudin ally-movable shaft provided with gearing in continuous engagement Withone of the aforesaid gearings and caused by movement of the shaft to engage and release the other gearing, and mechanism for moving the shaft at Will, comprising a lever M, fulcrumed on the frame of the machine and connected at its short arm with the movable shaft, a crank-shaft N, connected with the long arm of the lever, a ratchct-Wl1eel g on the crank-shaft, a ratchet engaging the ratchet-Wheel, an operating-cord or the like connected with the ratchet, and a spring f for returning the ratchet, the Whole being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY T. KRUSE.

In presence of- HARRY F. DOWNING,

HENRY F. KoRs. 

